Precarious Movements: Choreography and the Museum is a research project that aims to bring artists, researchers and institutions into dialogue about best practice to support the choreographer and the museum, and to sustain momentum in theory and practice around dance and the visual arts.
The project was awarded a Linkage Grant of nearly $400,000 over three years from 2021 to 2024 worth double this amount including in-kind support from partner organisations University New South Wales (UNSW), National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), TATE UK, Art Gallery New South Wales (AGNSW) and Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA) and independent artist Shelley Lasica.
Marking the end of the three-year project and alongside the launch of an anthology book and an open access, ‘Industry Resource for Choreographic Works in the Museum’, Louise Lawson, Head of Conservation at Tate, reflects on Tate’s learnings and outcomes regarding choreography and the museum, from the beginning to the end of the Precarious Movements research project, with reference to Tate and project partner case studies.
Program Outline
5:00pm – Welcome with MaryJo Lelyveld, Manager, Conservation, NGV
5:05pm – Introduction to Precarious Movements Project with Erin Brannigan
5:15pm – Keynote Lecture by Louise Lawson
5:45pm – Q&A with Louise Lawson and Lisa Mansfield
6:00pm – Post-event reception (Garden Restaurant)
Book – Precarious Movements: Choreography and the Museum
Edited by Erin Brannigan, Pip Wallis, Hannah Mathews and Louise Lawson with Amita Kirpalani, the publication features more than twenty expert contributions from performers, scholars, critics, choreographers as well as arts professionals working across archives, conservation, curation and production. The publication scopes the work of the work, the artists and institutions, and the legacy and trace of choreography in the museum today.
Authors include: Daina Ashbee, Julia Asperska, Caitrín Barrett-Donlon, Lara Barzon, Erin Brannigan, Lisa Catt, Natasha Conland, Tamara Cubas, Alicia Frankovich, Brian Fuata, Tammi Gissell, Angela Goh, Rochelle Haley, Maria Hassabi, Amrita Hepi, Alice Heyward, Victoria Hunt, Beatrice Johnson, Shelley Lasica, Juanita Kelly-Mundine, Louise Lawson, MaryJo Lelyveld, Adam Linder, Hannah Mathews, Carolyn Murphy, Louise O’Kelly, Cori Olinghouse, Pavel Pyś, Melissa Ratliff, Ana Ribeiro, Latai Taumoepeau, Zoe Theodore, Pip Wallis, Ivey Wawn, Catherine Wood, and Sara Wookey.
About the Speaker: Louise Lawson, Head of Conservation, Tate
Louise Lawson is Head of Conservation at Tate. In this role she is responsible for the leadership and strategic direction, development and delivery of Conservation at Tate. Her recent research has focused on the conservation of performance-based artworks, through leading the project Documentation and Conservation of Performance at Tate (2016–21) and through her participation in Reshaping the Collectible: When Artworks Live in the Museum (2018–21). She has shared learning from these projects via lectures, presentations and academic publications. Her current research project as a partner investigator is Precarious Movements: Choreography and the Museum.
Precarious Movements: Choreography and the Museum is a research project that aims to bring artists, researchers and institutions into dialogue about best practice to support the choreographer and the museum, and to sustain momentum in theory and practice around dance and the visual arts.
Learn more about Precarious Movements: Choreography and the Museum